Twenty percent of entries to this year's Advertising Annual were TV spots—refuting predictions by various media pundits on the imminent demise of this particular form of advertising and resulting in a strong showing in this year's annual, not to mention a lasting impression on our judges. "That MTV Bird spot from La Communidad," juror Mark Fitzloff remembered. "I laughed out loud and Diet Coke came out of my nose."

"I was humbled by the sheer amount of work in front of us," juror Susan Alinsangan said. "When I look at all of those ads I see thousands of briefs, tens of thousands of meetings, conference calls, hundreds of shoots, millions of hours of editing, countless late nights, going back to the well over and over, fighting, losing, fighting, winning, approvals, choosing fonts, colors, sizing logos (bigger), compositing, threading the legal needle and cost consultants."

"Judging a great show makes you jealous," said juror Brian Brooker. "It was a momentous kick-in-the-rear. I appreciated seeing so many smart, integrated campaigns in which every touch point was carefully considered."

When asked what was new, juror James Mikus saw some good solutions using new media. "It appears that people are getting increasingly comfortable with it," he said. "New ideas like Best Buy's Twelp Force are exciting, but have a hard time finding a home within existing categories," juror Mylene Pollock said. "As marketers we need to work harder to create and reward work that's outside of the box."

"Big, simple, strong ideas that change human behavior are more important than ever."